


A Helping Hand

by MeagstheWriter



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Amaya and Charlie meet, Denial of Feelings, F/F, From all parties involved BUT Amaya, John is there for like ten seconds because plot, Zari is a cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-09-21 00:34:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17032902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeagstheWriter/pseuds/MeagstheWriter
Summary: So Zari is a cat and time is broken. Charlie has to fix this but first she has to figure out what is even wrong with this time line in the first place. At least she has her powers back???OR what should have happened in the mid season finale since they were doing Amaya ANYWAY.





	A Helping Hand

Charlie turned Zari into a cat, like a tiny little fuckin housecat. It's probably the first time since she's joined the legends that Zari isn't glaring or yelling at her...which is not good at all. Zari is supposed to be yelling at her because she literally just broke time for selfish gain, well not her own selfish gain but still she helped. She starts pacing behind the captain's chair freaking out about what to do. Starting with how to even figure what's messed up because of her and John's actions. 

"Z you're going to have to be a cat for a little while longer until we can find John, or someone, to turn you back. But until then I'm going to need that driver's seat, love."

Charlie picks up Zari and places her in her lap as she sits in her place. Zari starts to speak but since she's a cat the protests go on deaf ears as Charlie can't understand her. Charlie just scratches her behind the ear to calm her down.

"I understand you're worried Z, but I'll find John and fix this. You'll be back to yelling at me in no time, yeah? Alright Gideon take us back to the ship."

As they travel through the time stream Charlie pets Zari's cat head occasionally, and it sort of helps keeps her calm through the trip back. When they get back to the ship Charlie, as quietly as she can in combat boots, sneaks Zari into the library and sits her on one of the desks.

"Okay stay here while I go see what's going on, if it's bad I'll get us out of here."

Zari meows at her as she leaves but Charlie ignores it to continue on with her plan. After hearing what the guys do to any magical creature they come across Charlie is horrified. She hides out in the hallway as she figures out what to do next, she has to act fast because the boys very much want to kill her right now. She makes her way through the ship and to the replicator room and closes the door behind her breathing heavily. 

"Okay, I need to grab some things and get out of here quickly. Oh bollocks I can't just leave Zari here she's a cat, but how am I going to get her out of here? Gideon can you make a cat carrier?"

"I already have one prepared from when we were dealing with that sabertooth tiger last year."

Charlie's eyes widen slightly at the thought of the legends fighting a sabertooth tiger in the past but it's lucky for her because she finds the bright pink cat carrier and grabs it.

"It's pink but it'll have to do. See you later Gideon!"

She gets herself and Zari back to the jumpship without dying at the hands of their former teammates and Garima. She straps Zari's carrier to a chair off to the side and sits down in the driver's seat and straps herself in.

"Alright let's find John and fix this mess of a timeline. Don't tell anyone but I actually kind of miss you nagging me right about now."

It takes a bit of time but they eventually get John out of the time bureau and back on the jump ship where he attempts to turn Zari back to her human form to no avail. He turns to look at Charlie with a shrug and a slight pout.

"Sorry love, I can't fix this but I know someone that can help us understand her better while we fix this."

"Just tell me where to go and I'll get us there."

"Zambezi, 1942. Oh you'll probably have to change your form when we get there."

"Why?"

"Well it would be a little weird if the villagers saw two or their protector walking around wouldn't it?"

"We're going to go get Amaya??? Won't that make the timeline worse?"

"Not if we put her back right when we got her, plus if the timeline we're in doesn't exist she won't remember it anyway. Come on love she's the only one who can help us, and help Zari, we need her."

She looks at Zari the cat and sighs. They really need Zari's help fixing time as she's the expert out of the three of them at time travel, and since they can't change her back right now they have no real option but to go and get the retired legend. Charlie groans in frustration as she throws herself into the driver's seat of the jumpship.

"Gideon you heard the man, Zambezi 1942."

It doesn't take long for them to get there, but Charlie could have done with a longer trip to see the woman she's been compared since she's been with the legends. To be safe she turns into Ray's form to cloak her chosen form and let John do all the talking. They're led to the biggest hut in the village after telling the people there who they were looking for. As they get brought in Charlie realizes just how much of a big deal Amaya Jiwe really is. First of all she has servants and apparently teaches classes to the children of her people about respecting nature and the animals around them. It reminds her of Pocahontas a little bit but way deeper and mystical. After she dismisses her class with a smile she turns to the two of them and frowns drastically.

"You have five minutes to tell me why you're here and what happened to Zari."

They probably should have left Zari on the ship to help Charlie keep her cover. Something that Charlie did not know was that Ray was allergic to cats, so he wouldn't be holding Zaricat tightly to his chest to calm him down. He would be sneezing his head off if he even came within five feet of a cat. Amaya is still glaring at the two of them and John steps forward to talk.

"Well as you can see love, Zari has been magically turned into a cat by a mystical creature and I can't seem to turn her back. Which is why we came here, as you are the only animal expert I know aside from your granddaughters."

"Okay, who is that? Because the Ray Palmer I know is allergic to cats. Whatever magic you have, show your true self now."

John gives her a look and Charlie sighs and transforms into her chosen form.

"I said your true form, not my form."

"This is my chosen form, it just so happens to look similar to you. Are you going to help us or not?"

"Well at least you don't sound like me or that would be really weird. What happened and how can I help?"

"Time is broken, and in trying to fix it Zari got turned into a cat and because the magical creature is still out there I can't change her back."

Amaya starts to belive them but when Zari jumps out of her grasp and into her arms she suddenly doesn't. She watches as Zari places her hand on the other woman's totem and a blue wave of energy encompasses the both of them then Amaya is glaring at them again. Which can't be good.

"How about you try again, but this time the truth maybe?"

John runs a shaky hand through his hair and tells Amaya everything from Charlie joining the legends to Dez being in hell attached to a demon's soul. As he speaks she looks at Zari every few sentences to see if what he's saying is the truth or not. When he's done talking she turns her focus to her and stares at her for a long while.

"And you?"

"What about me?"

"Why are you here, better yet why do you look like me?"

"The legends were hot on my tail for wrecking havoc in 1970s London and I turned into you to try and guilt them into not sending me back to hell. It worked but this one took my powers and I was stuck in your form for months until we got to New Orleans and fucked up time. You're just now one of my default forms for when I need to disappear into a crowd."

Like when John was talking Amaya periodically looks at Zari to see if she's telling the truth or not. Once she finds her answers good enough she nods more to Zari who she can understand perfectly clear, which Charlie is only a little bit jealous of.  

"Okay, what do you need me to do?"

"Uhhhh we were just hoping you would translate Zari's cat talk for us because she's the only one who can fly the jumpship, but you can be the one to handle the ship while we fix the problem."

"You want me to fly you back to 2018 to help you fix John and Dez's relationship and also time to put things back to the way things should be?"

"No we need you to fly to the 60s and translate Zari as we kill the unicorn that killed Sara."

Amaya and Zari look at each other and she watches them communicate silently before Amaya scratches behind the cat's ears and turning back to them.

"I'll go get changed."

Charlie watches her go, still with Zari in her arms, she looks at John and sighs.

"This better work Johnno. I'm not losing my powers for you."

"We'll figure it out I promise. Dez can't go to hell because of me."

As they sit and wait for Amaya and Z to come back, Charlie changes back into Ray's form so as to not cause any problems with the people who look up to Amaya. When she comes back she's dressed simply in a shirt, skinny jeans, black boots, and wrapped in a simple leather jacket. It shocks Charlie, who has always thought Amaya was uptight and a stickler for rules.

"Well if you're ready, let's go. It's a long trip where we're going."

Charlie goes to grab Zari back into her arms but Amaya holds firm.

"No offense but I haven't seen my best friend in years in real time, I would like to catch up with her."

"Fine by me mum, you try driving with her in your lap it's not easy."

Turns out that flying the jumpship with Zari in her lap comes easy to Amaya. Probably because Zari stays perfectly still and, she's done it before, and she actually likes her. Zari kept trying to bite and scratch her the whole time she drove the jumpship, that jealousy keeps coming up on the back of her head but she continues to ignore it. Amaya starts laughing at something neither John or her can hear and assumes that it was something Zari said and Charlie's frown deepens. 

"You know it's alright to be jealous, love. I would be too."

She turns from the two reunited bffs and turns to John with an offended look on her face.

"You really are going crazy mate. There's no way in hell I would ever be jealous of Amaya Jiwe."

"It's alright to like her, you know? If I wasn't trying to save the love of my life from an eternity in hell right now, I could see the appeal."

She glares at the other brit and pulls him up by his tie so they're eye level.

"You keep your eyes and your focus on your boy and not Zari you hear me?"

He pauses before speaking, trying very hard to keep his smirk out of his voice because he is still in her grip. He doesn't even think she realizes that she just proved him right.

"Loud and clear."

She pushes him back onto his seat and takes a deep breath to steady herself. She's not jealous, it's just a little weird to see Zari be so nice to someone with her face is all. She continues to watch the two totem bearers joke and giggle at nothing, which only adds more insult to injury. They destroy the unicorn without even having to leave the ship, quickly returning to 2018 to see if things are still the same as they left it. As soon they get close to the current time Zari turns back into a human sitting on Amaya's lap.

"I'm me again!"

"That means that everything is back to normal! Right?"

Amaya turns to Charlie then back to Zari.

"You're really new at this aren't you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Zari gets up from Amaya's lap and stands in the middle of the jumpship so she can address all of them at once. Also sitting on Amaya's lap as a human would have been weird, even if they are best friends. 

"It means that until we stop Des and John from breaking up, the timeline will still be messed up."

"Well I was only sticking around to make sure that you were human again. I've been an animal for a long period of time before, it wasn't fun. Anyway I'm off to go live the rest of my immortal life, good luck."

"Charlie if we fix the timeline you'll just wind up back here anyway."

"Then let me enjoy my freedom while I can!"

"Charlie!"

Charlie ignores Zari and walks out of the ship in a huff. She didn't really want to leave, she just didn't want to see any more of the great Amaya Jiwe and Zari Tomaz cuddling hour. She knows she has to go back, but she just wants to enjoy her powers for a little bit before they get taken away from her again.  

"Let her go Zari, let her figure it out on her own. If she's smart she'll do the right thing and help fix this."

Charlie walks aimlessly, switching faces when she finds an interesting one she likes, until she comes upon an almost empty park. There's only one kid here on the swings and the mother is sitting off to the side reading a book so she decides to sit and just people watch. She's just closing her eyes to soak in the sun for a bit when she feels eyes on her. Looking up she sees the child that was on the swings now standing right in front of her. 

"Hello."

"You talk funny, I like it."

"That's because I'm not from here."

"Neither is my papa, but I was born here."

"Should you be talking to strangers moppett, what would your parents say?"

"That they aren't a stranger when you know their name! What's your name?"

Charlie smirks at the young human. She's probably only about eight or nine, but she's probably one of the smartest humans she's talked to in a very long time. The other smartest is Zari but she'd never tell her that.

"Well aren't you a clever little bugger, I'm Charlie. What's your name?"

"Zari Adrianna Tomaz, now we aren't strangers!"

Young Zari throws a huge smile her way, showing her missing front teeth, and Charlie's eyes widen. The smart little girl that is talking to her is Zari as a child, which now makes perfect sense because of course it's Zari. Young Zari climbs on the park bench next to her and pulls out a small piece of candy to hand to her.

"You want one, my Mama says I can't have any more today because I ate a lot at school."

"And is that your mother over there?"

The child nods and Charlie feels compulsed to take the offered treat so she does. She makes a show of popping the sucker in her mouth for her benefit and the smile she gets in return is worth it.

"We come here every time I have a bad day at school. She doesn't want my papa to see that I'm having a hard time fitting in so she brings me here to cheer me up before going home. That way he thinks I'm at a friend's house or something."

"Was today a bad day?"

The child nods again and Charlie doesn't need to hear what happened but she hears it anyway.

"The other kids make fun of my name and the food my mama makes me for lunch. They say that it's weird and that I should go back to whatever country I came from. I was born here though, this is the only country I've ever known. Why are they so mean to me I just want to be their friend?"

Charlie's heart breaks at the thought of Zari being bullied for being Muslim. It's not unknown to her, the terrors of the white man's world, but she could always just change her form to fit in. Even still her default form is a black woman, so she knows what Zari is going through. 

"Well it's like your mother says, you can't be friends with someone you don't know, and they don't know you. They know other people who are similar but not you, don't let them bother you."

"That's easy for you to say you're a grown up, you don't have to deal with bullies."

"That is absolutely not true, my bullies just look and say different things is all. Here's some advice I've always lived by and I think you should too. Those that matter don't mind, and those that mind don't matter. For what it's worth you're one of the most interesting people I've ever met, and I've met a lot of people."

"Zari? It's time to go!"

"I guess she has to go start dinner. It was nice to meet you, I hope I see you again next time we come here."

The child runs away to meet her mother and go home to the rest of her life. Charlie feels a tear fall from her eye and she wipes it away realizing what she has to do. She has to make sure Zari is her Zari, not a cat or anything else but that same strong little girl she just met. Even if it means being a human and losing her powers for good.

"Nice to see you again Zari, and don't worry you'll see me again soon."

The ship is still where Amaya parked it, meaning that they didn't leave without her and knew she would come back. She gets let back in and they all watch as she sits and doesn't say anything. Zari and John don't say anything to her but Amaya gives her a look from the driver's seat before pulling off to New Orleans. While Zari and John fix time, she stays on the ship stating that they don't really need her anyway. It doesn't take long after they're gone for Amaya to speak to her.

"What changed your mind, coming back to the ship?"

"I was always going to come back, I just needed to get some air. Was feeling time-stream sick."

"Hmm and it had nothing to do with your jealousy of me?"

"Trust me love, I ain't jealous of anything you got."

"I could feel your glare on my back the entire time I was getting us here and I think I know what I look like when I'm jealous."

"I ain't anything like you mum."

"Actually I think we have more in common than you know, like being in love with Zari for one."

"If you were in love with her why did you choose Nate? Why didn't you get with her?"

"Because if I chose Zari I would have never left the Legends, the timeline is too important to be selfish."

"Yeah I'm learning that the hard way."

"Don't worry, it's a rite of passage to mess up time on this team, now you and John are officially Legends. Congratulations."

"Thanks. So what? You're giving me your blessing to go for it with Zari? She hates me!"

"No she doesn't, she's just getting her feelings mixed up. The one thing she does not feel towards you is hate."

"And just how do you know that, that gaudy trinket of yours reads minds too?"

"Our totems are connected so in a way yes, I can read her thoughts. And if anything is gaudy here, try your chain belts."

Charlie scoffs because of course those two are practically fuckin soulmates, it all makes sense now. 

"So she doesn't hate me, there's still no way in bloody hell that she'd date me. If anything she still wants you and I would just be a cheap replacement."

"Again, you don't know her like I do. Zari wouldn't do that, plus it's like you said. We aren't anything alike. You should tell her how you feel, I never got the chance to do that."

"She still knew though."

"Yeah, I couldn't really hide it from her, she can feel my emotions too."

Charlie sits next to the cat carrier and sighs, things are starting to become clear to her. According to Amaya, Zari only hated her at the start because she looks likes the woman she loved and never got a chance to get over. "The one that got away" if you will, and not enough time passed for Zari to move on before she joined the team. Because of that Zari has been throwing her pain at her in the form of anger at her just existing, not like Charlie made it any easier by picking fights with the other woman. Well this just sounds like a shitty romantic comedy now because even though they both have feelings for each other they'll probably die before confessing to their feelings because of their charged relationship. 

"Have you figured it out yet? Because your facial journey says you just got there."

"Holy shit, all this time she's been into me, we could have been shaggin instead of fighting! I'm a bloody idiot!"

"Yep you just got there, although that was a bit vulgar. I would rather not picture the two of you together."

"Why not? It's just you with tattoos and better hair."

"It's weird, and I made my peace with the decision I made to leave Zari. I don't want to be haunted by something I'll never get to have."

"Oh. Sorry Mum, forgot about that part of all this. If it makes you feel any better if I hurt her I'm pretty sure she could kick my mortal ass."

Amaya smirks at the thought of Zari spinning Charlie in a tornado like she saw her do to Mick once. The smirk turns into a smile and a chuckle and Charlie grins at the sight.

"How would that make me feel better? I want my best friend to be happy."

"I don't know, but it got you to smile. I promise I won't hurt her, that is if I even get close enough to hurt her."

"What do you like the most about her?"

Charlie doesn't have to think about this, but the question makes her pause because it blindsided her for a moment. Amaya is leveling her with a stare and Charlie sees that this is the "shovel talk" portion of their conversation.

"I've met a lot of people in my immortal life, and none of them have impressed me as much as Zari. She's passionate, never gives up, even when things seem impossible, and she's so fucking clever. I don't mean in the hacking smart kind of way, but when we argue she can keep up with and one up me on my good days. She's cute too, sometimes I say things that are just utterly outrageous just to see her reaction to it. She makes these faces that I just want to kiss off whenever she's frustrated. I just want to make her happy. I don't do love, I haven't stayed in one place long enough to connect with someone like this before. This is as new and terrifying to me as dying."

Amaya's eyes soften throughout Charlie's speech. All those feelings she feels for Zari, she's felt too. Charlie may actually feel more for Zari than she once did, which doesn't surprise her Zari deserves that much love and more. She stands to comfort the shapeshifter but stops when she hears Zari over the coms telling them that they're on the way back to the ship. She sounds like she's chewing something, which doesn't surprise either of them to be honest, and they both stare at each other. 

"You should tell her, I guarantee that it will go better than you're thinking it will. Do what I didn't get a chance to do." 

"And if she says no? That's a fate far worse than dying."

"Then, you'll have been braver than I was."

Charlie sighs and sits just as Zari and John come back and see her. Unlike last time Zari does decide to make a comment. 

"Surprised you actually came back."

"Well like you said if you fixed the timeline it wouldn't matter if I came back or not. Let just hope everything is the way it should be because I'm tired and hungry."

Amaya watches Zari place the tray of beignets she had in Charlie's lap without missing a beat before joining her at the front. She gives her friend a strange look, because she NEVER shares food not even with her, but says nothing as they make their way to the waverider. They decide see if the timeline is intact before taking Amaya back to Zambezi, which will be Zari's job. 

Charlie watches everyone hug Amaya, even though she can tell Sara is pissed that she's even standing on the ship. John takes full responsibility for her being there, giving the three of them an opportunity to escape the captain's wrath. 

"Hey Z wait up a minute?"

Amaya passes her a look but continues to the jumpship, giving them some privacy.

"What Charlie, I have to get Amaya back."

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for how I acted when I first got here. I was pissed that my powers were gone and just lashing out like a child. It wasn't fair to treat you that way, picking fights like it was your fault I was stuck like this. You were just as angry as I was but instead of making the best of a situation we both didn't like we just attacked each other. I understand the hype about Amaya Jiwe now, she's kind of amazing and I get now that you were protective over your best friend."

Zari doesn't say anything while Charlie speaks, confused and not understanding where this side of her is coming from. It's not like she couldn't understand her when she was a cat, she just thought that things would go back to normal afterwards. They would argue, with no real malice behind it, and ignore each other when they aren't on a mission. That's how they work, why would she try to change their dynamic when it works?

"Anyway before I go off on an even longer ramble that's all I wanted to say. You should probably get to Amaya before she drives herself home."

"Charlie...can we talk when I get back?"

Charlie smiles, the almost blinding pearly whites on full display for Zari to see, then nods. 

"Find me when you get back."

Zari watches her leave before almost running to the jumpship to talk to Amaya about what just happened. She's sitting there talking to Gideon about something so she waits, not wanting to be impolite and interrupt. She knows that Gideon missed Amaya too, so she waits. Sure enough Gideon eventually says goodbye and Amaya turns to her. 

"Finally alone."

"Yeah finally. I've really missed you Maya. It hasn't been the same since you left."

"You're new teammates are something, I particularly liked Charlie. She reminds me of you when you first joined the Legends."

"Oh please, she is nothing like me!"

"Only on the team to get what they want, rap sheet a mile and a half long, a sarcastic pain in the ass? Stop me if I get too close."

"Okay fine, so we're a little alike. That doesn't mean I have to like her. She's a booze hound who doesn't know anything but how to pick a fight."

"What did she want to talk to you about on the ship?"

"Oh that, she wanted to apologize for picking fights with me because I was an easy target."

"Are you going to forgive her?"

"I don't know she's probably just feeling guilty for turning me into a cat. Think I'm gonna let her sit in it to see if she means it or not."

Amaya turns to Zari and looks at her, really looks at her. This woman that she once loved but had to let go so she could fulfill her destiny, is not even recognizable to her anymore.

"I thought the Quran taught about forgiving others? She sounded sincere from the bit I heard."

"Yeah well I know her better than you. She's a trickster, and as soon as I let my guard down she'll betray me. That's how I became a cat."

"Because she's dying without her powers and you can't have that."

"No, because I let her tell me some sob story and I fell for it while John changed the time line. If she didn't distract me none of this would have ever happened."

Zari turns away from her and sits in the driver's seat, she makes no moves to program the ship to take her home so Amaya waits until Zari speaks again.

"Why did you leave?"

"I had to Zari you know that. I didn't want to leave you."

"You sure could leave Nate."

"Because I didn't love him like I loved you, if I had chosen to be with you I would have never left and the time line would have been ruined. You know better than I do about the importance of keeping the timeline intact. I had to go so I could fulfill my destiny."

"How was I supposed to know you loved me? You choose Nate and acted like nothing changed between us afterwards. Nothing says I love like I'm sleeping with someone else."

"Zari be reasonable please, I had to do what was right for my family."

"Getting back together with Nate was right for your family? I didn't know your daughter was mixed."

"This is why I didn't tell you what was going on."

"No I had to find out what was going on with the woman I loved, and thought loved me, from Nate. Not telling me yourself was what told me you didn't care as much as I did."

"Don't you dare try to insinuate that I didn't love you!"

"Then why didn't you talk to me?! I'm from the future, I know you had to keep the timeline intact. That was never my problem, my problem was you going back to him!"

"I had to make a choice, and I wasn't proud of my decision, yes Nate was unnecessary, but he wouldn't have fought me on leaving like I know you would have."

"You don't know what I would have done."

"You would have tried to find a loophole so I could have stayed. That much I know would have happened, and I didn't want to have to say no to you. I didn't want to break your heart."

"So instead you decided to spare my already broken heart by being with someone else, who I know that you didn't love as much as me. Great plan Amaya, you would have made a great leader if you stayed."

"I had to make one of the hardest decision of my life that day leaving you! You do not get to judge me for how I did it. I'm sorry I hurt you but you need to let the pain go and move on."

Amaya moves to stand in front of the chair Zari is in and squats down so she's at eye level with the woman who hold a piece of her soul.

"Kind of hard to do when there's a lookalike of you running around with us. Every time I see her smile or hear her laugh I think of you."

"Then why do you feel so guilty? Is it because you have fallen for her and you're still trying to hold on to me?"

"I do not like her."

"You know I can feel your emotions right? You're fighting a war within yourself that you don't have to fight. Why are you still holding on to me?"

"Because at the end of the day, you're what keeps me going. I joined this team for you, and you left me with these people I barely like. The memories are all I have left, and you can't make me forget you."

"I'm not asking you to, but you need to let the others in, especially her. She's nothing like me, excluding her physical appearance. I just want you to be happy, why don't you want that for yourself?"

"Because everyone I love either leaves me or dies! My family, you, I can't open myself up to her because as soon as she gets her powers back she's gone and I'm alone again!"

"You don't know that will happen."

"Yes I do, she's said it multiple times and it's the reason you're even here. As soon as I wasn't a cat anymore she left! She only stayed because she felt guilty."

"Or because she actually cares about you and, thinks that you don't want her around. You're cold to her, that's why she keeps her distance. It's not because she doesn't want to be around you, it's because she thinks you don't. You did the same thing to me, and don't lie to me because you can't."

"What do you want me to say Amaya? That I'm falling for her and I think I might love her more than I loved you and that it terrifies me? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Yes, because you needed to hear that more than I did."

Zari leans back in the chair, letting out a deep breath she didn't know she was holding. She let's her hands fall from her hair to sit them at her sides limply. She didn't know what she was going to say, but she wasn't expecting all of that to come out of her mouth. She's busy freaking out, but she does vaguely feel Amaya take her hand and intertwine their fingers. Almost on autopilot Zari brings their joined hands up to her mouth and kisses Amaya's hand. She drops their hands back down to her lap and sighs.

"Did I really just say that?"

"The thing that you've been keeping in the darkest corner of your mind, so that you didn't even know it was there? Yeah, you did. Now what?"

"Now, I take you home so I can get the girl, in whatever way that means."

"Or at least just being more civil towards her, baby steps remember?"

"I remember my own rules. I'm really gonna miss you Maya, the team isn't the same without you. I'm not the same without you."

"You're not, you're better because of me, just like I am because of you."

"You always know what to say to make me feel better."

"Years of experience, I'm old remember? I think you have a thing for older women because there was Helen of Troy, me, and now Charlie who is technically immortal who doesn't age. I'm seeing a pattern here."

"Okay what we're not going to do is make fun of me okay? We're not doing this!"

"Can't handle the truth darling?"

"Okay you don't get to be smug about this! Gideon let's get her home, I have to have a conversation with a shapeshifter."

Amaya laughs and kisses the side of Zari's head before backing away so she can get home. She did miss the team, but she can't say she's not excited to be home with her people and daughter. She walks off the jumpship after one last hug and watches Zari take off with a sad smile on her face. It doesn't hurt as much this time, because she knows that they'll be okay. Charlie and Zari will figure it out eventually, and if they don't she can always lend another helping hand.

**Author's Note:**

> That ended up being way more emotional than I thought it was going to be. Happy new year everyone Zarlie is endgame in 2019!


End file.
